Machines for forming and filling flexible pouches are currently known and used. Some machines include a turret and a rail generally concentric to the turret. A carriage is mounted to the turret. The carriage holds a plurality of grippers. The grippers are paired and each of the grippers includes ends configured to hold a top portion of the flexible pouch so as to position the pouch for pouch finishing operations such as filling, sealing, or fitment insertion. The turret is centrally located among a plurality of work stations.
Each work station may include a plurality of arms configured to perform various operations to the pouch. For instance, one of the work stations may be configured to apply a heat seal to the bottom edge of a pouch. Yet another work station may be configured to open the pouch, and yet another work station may be configured to fill the pouch. As the pouch progresses around the turret and through each of the individual stations, the pouch is filled, sealed, and then transferred to an end point for delivery to a distributor. It should be appreciated that a programmable controller may be in electrical communication with each of the work stations and carriage so as to automatically move the pouch progressively through the work stations. The machine may further include sensors. The sensors may be distributed throughout the work stations so as to inform the controller when a finishing process is complete.
It should be appreciated the pouch may be subject to centrifugal forces as the pouch progresses through the arcuate sections of the turret. In particular, as the pouch is being held at its top side edges by the grippers the centrifugal force of the pouch, as the pouch navigates through a turn, may cause the bottom portion of the pouch to become misaligned with the various stations. Accordingly, it remains desirable to have a support device configured to hold the bottom edges of the pouch in alignment with the grippers so as to maintain proper position of the pouch throughout the various stations, and to stabilize the pouch as the pouch is subjected to centrifugal forces, or forces caused by the stop and start of the pouch between the work stations.